‘The work-rate he puts in, the way he leads the line and puts chances away when he gets them. He’s a real leader in every sense of the word.

‘The situation with Colby is, I think, he’s incredibly happy in terms of the football he’s playing and he’s had an incredibly successful 12 or 13 months here – so long may that continue.’

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The R’s are among the early favourites for second tier relegation from the second tier but quietened the doubters with a 2-1 victory over Cardiff City on the weekend – with Sinclair Armstrong and Kenneth Paal in the goals.

A youthful Hoops side produced a hard-fought display against Norwich City in the Carabao Cup in midweek but were beaten by Jonathan Rowe’s 98th-minute header and now turn their attention back to the league.

Their first home Championship game in 2023/24 is a tough one as they host Ipswich, who have made a splash in their first season back in the second tier after promotion from League One – winning two in two to move top of the table.

Speaking to FLW after Wednesday evening’s defeat to Norwich, Ainsworth was upbeat due to his side’s performance and backed the R’s to defy the odds on Saturday.

Ainsworth added: “We’ve probably come away from Wales with a result that no one expected and there’s no reason we can’t do it at home, especially when this place is rocking with 16-17,000 West London fans behind us.”

The Hoops could be without striker Lyndon Dykes for Saturday’s game after he limped off against the Canaries.

This morning Aisworth told West London Sport that the initial reports are not as bad as first feared and that they should know the full extent of the issue soon.

After the Carabao Cup tie, Ainsworth revealed his motivation for including the physical forward and highlighted potential replacements.

He said: “I can’t speak for the medics but he slipped after he was tackled. He tried to stay on his feet but he slipped and he injured himself in the slip. I don’t exactly know what it is, I’ve come straight up to the press conference and did the press straight away because I was so proud of the boys, but we should find out tomorrow what the score is.

“It’s difficult because you try and change up a lot for these but you don’t ever want to not get through to the next round. I wanted to be competitive tonight so playing three or four from Saturday was important and giving some experience to the ones that are knocking on my door and saying give me a chance.

“I thought we were super competitive tonight and unfortunately Lyndon had to come off about a minute before we planned him to come off, which is sods law but we’ll deal with it. If he does miss the next game, I’m pleased to say that I’m not on the end of a drubbing tonight thinking: ‘Who the hell do I put in?’

“I’ve got choices to put in and I think some of the forward players I’ve got. Sinclair’s made a name for himself on Saturday, I think Rayan Kolli made a name for himself tonight, I think the fans are very excited by him.”

“We’ve got one or two good options if Lyndon’s not available”, he added. “Taylor Richards and Elijah Dixon-Bonner played well in the striker roles tonight. As does Chris Willock and I think Chris is hopefully back for the weekend as well so we’ve got some options there but Lyndon is obviously a big player for me and hopefully he’s not too bad.”